


Just One Summer

by Greyregal



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 21:25:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14065896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greyregal/pseuds/Greyregal
Summary: Day 5 for OQ Prompt PartyHow long are you willing to wait?How long are you willing to fight?Will your love survive?Notebook AU





	Just One Summer

**Author's Note:**

> Please read and review  
> Prompt 79 and 216

**Prompt** **79 and 216**  
**JUST ONE SUMMER**

People most often categorize the things they see and feel with time.

_I want to have a lifetime with you._

_48 uninterrupted hours with you._

_I_ _t took me a second to fall for you._

We do that all the time.

However, there are things in life which cannot simply be measured with time.  
…  
The old man just entered the garden and saw a lady sitting on a bench alone, staring at the distance.

He noticed her lack of company and gathered the strength to sit with her.

“How are you today?” he asked with a smile

And then the woman looked at him, not having a clue who he was.

“Who are you and what do you with that notebook?” she enquired about the leather bound paper he was holding

And he struck a smirk and reached his hand out.

“I’m Robin and I’m a writer” he introduced himself, “And if I may be so bold, you are looking beautiful today.” 

The lady’s cheeks reddened and she laughed it off.

“I’m Regina” she introduced herself and shook his hand. “What do you write?” she asked, starting a conversation.

“Novels and such” he said nonchalantly  
Her interest was piqued

“Would you like me to read you my masterpiece?” he offered and she accepted.

She’s always loved stories.

And she’s got nothing better to do today.

She doesn’t even remember what she was supposed to do.

“It started in summer of the year 1955…”  
…  
Elizabeth came to visit her mother in the Gold estate in the Hamptons.

She was going to have her sign her permit for an exchange program in Spain for the following school year.

Her dad had already signed it but it’s going to need the signature of both parents since she is a minor.

Her parents are divorced despite the strict customs of the decade and here she was, sucking up to her mother so she can go and explore the world.

But she isn’t that victorious in her mission.

There is an exchange for the signature.

She’ll have to spend her summer with her mother.

And as much as she loathes the idea, she has no choice.

She spent most of her days avoiding her step-sister Mary Margaret who annoys her with so much talking.

So here she was in the only place that the verbose girl hates: the poolside

Her stepfather, Leopold Blanchard, was truly a wealthy man.

But that didn’t give her a reason to like the person who tore her family apart.

And unfortunately, Mary Margaret was also subjected in that indifference.

So she was, barely scraping the patience to finish fifteen more days before leaving forever.

She was, afterall, seventeen.

She won’t need her mother’s approval after this year and no reason to come here more so.

But it all changed when the neighbors came home from their family vacation in Ireland.

The moment she looked at him, her breath was taken away.

He’s got the most beautiful blue eyes she’s ever seen.

And dimples, it makes her knees weak.

She was sat in her usual spot when the teenage man approached her and flashed a dashing smile.

“Hello, I’m Alexander. From next door.” He offered a hand which she shook.

“Elizabeth” she said.

And it all began there.

Her last two weeks became eventful.

He invited her out to parties.

Trips to the clubhouse.

Fishing trips

And introduced her to archery.

Her boring stay in the Hamptons had a 180 degree turn and became among the most memorable time she’s had in a long time.

But she had to go back to the city.

She was reluctant but she needed to leave so she bid him goodbye with a promise of telegrams now and then.  
She flew to Spain and waited for a single letter but none came.

She was heartbroken but life had to go on.

The school year went by and she met a lot of people.

By the time she went back to the states, she was in a relationship.

She was happy and the man loves her.

But that didn’t last when she turned down his offer for marriage because of college.

She went to Harvard and pursued a law degree.

She became a high powered attorney at 27.

She was climbing the corporate ladder fast.

But she never expected that her uphill climb would suddenly become a rollercoaster ride because of a phone call.

Her stepfather passed away and she was made as the executor of his will.

And as much as she hates the idea of going back to the Hamptons, she had to… So she did.

So under the scorching sun of the summer of 1975 she went back to the place where it all began.

She worked fast, without glitch so she may never see him again but the universe is conspiring against her.

Just when she was driving out of the suburban village, her tire ran through a nail and got pierced so she had to stop in the middle of at 7 in the evening.

She never expected that her knight in shining armour would be the man she swore lightning and thunder to.

He greeted her casually “hey Elizabeth”

And that got her all riled up.

All her practiced court patience suddenly disappeared and a loud slap echoed through the silence

“Ten years. I waited for a letter for ten long years and none arrived and all you have to say is ‘Hey Elizabeth’?!” she screamed to the unexpecting man cradling his burning cheek

“What do you mean nothing?! I wrote to you every single week for an entire year and you never responded” he said, pain evident in his voice.

And then everything clicked.

They drove back to his house but she went next door, raging.

Of course it was her mother you made everything difficult.

She barged in despite the butler trying to calm her down while Alexander followed her lead.

And she found her mother in the sitting room sipping tea as though she never did anything wrong in her life.

“Why?” she asked to her mother without emotion

And her mother knew what she was referring to when she glanced at Alexander.

“I had to. You didn’t know what you were doing and you have always been blind to your emotions” her mother stated plainly which triggered a warranted response

“You don’t know me at all and you had no right to cut us off!” Elizabeth screamed 

And what was supposed to be a calm confrontation turned out to be a screaming match between the older and the younger brunette.

“If I didn’t do that, you would have gone off and rode the imaginary sunset with him. I know how you look at him because I once looked at your father that way and look where we are. You wouldn’t have been successful in your career had I not done what I did. And I’d never regret it” Her mother tried to reason with her but she’d have none of it

“Don’t blame daddy with what you’ve done to our family. And Alexander, I loved him and you don’t care about how I feel at all… After I file the will of Leopold and finish all the unnecessary paperworks, I never want to see you again. Ever” she said and barged out of the mansion.

“You loved me?” asked a voice from behind her.

She stopped in her tracks and looked back at him with tears in her eyes.

And she nodded.

He wasted no time, took long strides and within seconds his lips touched hers.

And he could finally breathe.

Rain poured down at them but it didn’t matter.

It took them ten years to confess and the can wait.

“I love you too” he whispered in between their kisses  
…

“How’d the mother stop their mails?” Regina asked Robin and he shrugged

“She paid off the courier. Back then it wouldn’t have been noticed..”

“What happened to Elizabeth and Alexander?” she asked, curiously.

“Well, they spent months rekindling their romance and eventually got married. Alexander left the comfort of his family’s Hampton mansion and moved to a 2-story family house with Elizabeth. They three beautiful children and a dog and swore to love each other forever. And they did. They still do” he narrated

“And everything began with just one summer”

Regina was silent.

And for a moment, she actually understood why the story compelled her to listen.

It wasn’t just a story.

It was THEIR story.

“Hey Elizabeth…” greeted the man across her…

The man who had promised to love her despite everything.

She launched herself with the strength she had left and embraced him

“Hey Alexander…” she whispered between her tears.  
And they both breathed in each other.

With their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren looking from the porch.

When Regina started having the signs of Alzheimer’s their children insisted they put her in a care facility for those who has it but their father refused.

He loves her so much he cannot bear the thought of losing her completely so despite the arthritis, the back pain and everything else an old man feels, he takes care of her.

He said that he promised her to take care of her.

In sickness and in health.

And he did.

As for Regina, Her mind might have forgotten

But her heart remembers

He has always been Robin Alexander and she is Regina Elizabeth.

And nothing can keep their love from each other.

Not even Alzheimer’s.

“Happy 80th Birthday love. Thank you for coming back” he whispered


End file.
